Prologue

The sun stood high above the gigantic mountain range of the Holy Ancestors, stretching everywhere you looked, illuminating the gaps of deep gorges. There was snow on the slopes, descending like tongues into the valleys. Despite the fact that summer has already come into its own, it still has not melted. The cold lingered here for a long time, and the roar of wild creatures from time to time echoed the surroundings. Beasts reigned in the mountains, and people living in the city hidden in the valley for hundreds of years knew nothing about what was happening there, behind the high mountain peaks, in the outside, big world.

    What was going on there now? Once upon a time, in the era of the heyday of humanity, legions of legendary warriors and demon spellcasters created an empire that stretched its borders over an entire continent... But the wind of time has long since erased it from the face of the earth, like a drawing in the sand.

    Situated in a secluded mountain valley, the city survived the Dark Times. Although it happened that powerful animals descending from the mountains, storms and avalanches destroyed it, it rose from the ruins again and again. The walls of the city, dotted with fresh stonework where cracks and collapses had been repaired, were a monument to the tenacity and courage of its inhabitants.

    This city, which has become a symbol of hope for humanity, is called Glory City.

    But this is not our story.

    Our story begins in the Dragon Rune Realm in the Dragon Seal Family.

***

— Come on, Madam Shuyun, there's just a little bit left.

— That's right, I can already see his head.

— Kya, I can already see how handsome our young master will be.

— And I wanted a girl...

— Who let these servants in here?!!! — finally shouted a beautiful woman who was covered in copious amounts of blood.

    While this woman began to scold the intruders, behind her one could see an adult beauty who was lying on some kind of bed that was covered with strange symbols. Next to her there was a table on which there were different herbs, there were also some colorful liquids and small balls, almost everything related to alchemy. She herself was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. She had long pink hair, blue eyes that were now looking into nowhere in pain. She also had a large round belly, which clearly hinted at the situation in which she was located.

    Next to her, one could see a strangely similar woman, who did not differ much in appearance from the previous one. The strangest thing about all these people was a certain aura that revolved around them. Only the aura that circled around the woman standing next to her seemed to be able to outshine everyone and everyone in this room several times over.

— ...Mom, why does it hurt so much? — the woman lying on the bed asked tiredly, focusing her gaze on the figure standing next to her.

— ...I don't know, Shuyun, I honestly don't know, — the tired woman's mother presumably answered in confusion. — When I gave birth to you, I was about your age and even lower in rank.

— Hmm, I'm almost sure that pathetic freak is to blame, — the patient managed to grin maliciously. — Where is he by the way?

— If you're talking about your "husband," Shuyun, then he seems to have "found" some kind of mid-level divine pond, — the adult beauty did not forget to make air quotes. — And of course he didn't run away from you when there was an opportunity, because how could he miss the birth of his so "expected" son.

— Well, okay, let him run, even though his crooked face won't be visible, — the patient could not help but insult her "husband." — He will be gone for 3-4 years. I will raise my Long Shen myself, without the interference of this weakling. Hehehehe...

— And why did you choose him? You said it yourself that he is a weakling. — the older woman couldn't help but ask.

    But this was of interest to many cultivators throughout the Draconic Rune Realm. Almost everyone knows that if you marry a member of the Dragon Seal Family, you must take his surname, no matter male or female, you will become a member of the Dragon Seal Family. And you will receive all the resulting pros and cons from this. And of course, there are certain criteria that a person wishing to get married must meet. People with Dragon Bloodline and Dragon Dao Rank are most often accepted. So as to strengthen the family's core bloodline. Therefore, everyone was surprised when one of the so-called fairies of the Draconic Rune Realms married the untalented loser of the Heavenly Fate Realm.

— ...I...I don't know, I was just drawn, — she began to look to the side, as if she was remembering something distant. — And I was drawn not as to a person or a lover, but as to some kind of divine treasure. I mean, there was a feeling that he would bring me a lot of benefits in the future. And I also felt that if I didn't even take it, I would simply ignore it. It doesn't matter in the future, it will be of some benefit to me.

— This... this is very strange, — the most powerful woman who was in this room, and the family in general, began to think deeply. — Do you still feel that way from him?

— Well, yes, but not so much. After I found out that I was pregnant with his child, I stopped feeling it by ninety percent or a little less, — daughter said somehow hesitantly. — It's as if one more use and the artifact will break. That's how it felt.

— Another use, huh? — the mother quietly repeated to herself and began to look at her daughter's belly.

— Yea-Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrhhh, — she growled sharply at the entire estate. - IT HURTS AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRHHHHH

— Come here quickly, — the older woman quickly turned her gaze to the woman covered in blood, and she abruptly pulled herself to the bed. — Fulfill your role, I'll back you up if anything happens.

— Y-yes, Hierarch, — she faltered at first, and then she remembered who she was and began her work.

    The work was hard and the situation dangerous. The fetus that was in the womb, like a black hole, devoured everything. And nutrients, and pills, tinctures, herbs. Even blood along with heavenly energy, one's own mother.

    The birth was difficult and long, it lasted for almost three days. And already at the beginning of the fourth a scream was heard.

— AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA — a sharp piercing sound was heard, a sound meaning new life.

***

Somewhere far away

— Ho-oh...? — an ancient powerful voice sounded in the void. — Another one?

    Somewhere in space. Far, far away in the void. A dark figure sat with his eyes closed, motionless, like a statue. Moments later, another one appeared in front of the dark figure, who abruptly knelt down.

— Master, you woke up early, did something happen? — it was unclear whether the voice was female or male, one thing was clear, this creature clearly revered its master.

— Nothing, my student, nothing. Just an old, familiar feeling, — the seated man said without emotion. — How is the Draconic Rune Realm doing?"

— Everything is the same as in the past, master. Human sects are weak, and demonic ones are trying to gain power. They almost always fight each other, — the student said with a slight grin.

— Hmm-hmm... And these people? — the dark figure asked thoughtfully.

— The last practitioner of the Heavenly Divination Technique was about a thousand years ago. He was eliminated. We didn't find any others. They either died from the consequences of the technique or were not talented, — the student said seriously, knowing that this was an important topic for the master.

— I see, return to your place, — the master ordered his student.

— I obey, — and the creature disappeared, as if it had never been there.

    When the void became quiet again, the Dark figure finally showed signs of life. The eyelids suddenly opened, and eyes as red as blood became visible. And the pressure that brought with it murder, thirst and satisfaction was released.

— This is it. It happened again. Hehe, — that emotionless voice was not heard. There was thirst in the voice, a thirst for something unknown to anyone except the dark figure. — Another Supreme Expert from the highest world.

— First the Supreme Expert of Time and Space, then that Meteorite with the Fire Essence, and now this, — the dark figure began to analyze. — Hmm-hmm... Rough, powerful energy, filled with strong intention and a soul, a small soul comparable to an ordinary mortal? Not a cultivator? Hmmm... Even a child with the lowest rank of earthly destiny will have a soul purer than this. Strange...

— But all this doesn't matter, soon, very soon, I will rise, — the dark figure sat back, quietly speaking to himself.

    If some cultivators saw this from the outside, they would be surprised how someone could survive in the void and also cultivate, but people in the know would be horrified. Millions of worlds from small to large, comparable in size, like hundreds of Draconic Rune Realms. All of them were covered with inscriptions of unknown purpose. All of them generated oceans of energies that were absorbed into these mysterious inscriptions and then transmitted to the center of this formation.

    And in the center sat a Dark Figure that had been cultivating these worlds for millions of years in order to reach its goal, the Upper World.